Wednesday, July 23 Tired of standing around awkwardly with your cheap drink at weekday happy hours? Express your inner artist (and your inner alcoholic) at the studio’s Happy Hour Art. Sketch, paint, drink and snack — all for 150 RMB. 796 Julu Lu, Luwan near Fumin Lu 巨鹿路796号 近富民路 Thursday, July 24 Sometimes those favorite moves we break out at the club each week start to seem a little overused. For those times, there’s Souldancing.......

Thursday, July 10 Think you're hot enough to be a model? Find out Thursday night at Club G Plus, where Adidas Originals is hosting a fashion model search. Have a professional photographer take your picture at the main entrance, then head in for the party with no cover, free selected cocktails and music mixed by DJ Samir. The drink specials are enough to make you forget all about modeling, until Adidas calls you back for......

In March we introduced you to the "mother" of Chinese opera, Kunqu. This weekend Shanghai residents will have a chance to see if this ancient performing art can be transformed into something — how shall we put it — easier on the ears by blending in a touch of Jazz. Jeffrey Zhang, sometimes referred to as the "Prince of Kunqu Opera," will sing excerpts from classics such as "The Peony Pavilion," "The Story of the......

If you're dying to see a drag show like no other, you are in luck! Starting yesterday at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the Broadway musical Hairspray made its debut in Shanghai and will continue to play nightly for about two weeks. After that, they are off to Beijing for a week of performances. Based on the 2002 Broadway musical (which was based on the 1988 movie), Hairspray is a celebration of American music of the......

Serena Williams put an end to Zheng Jie's Wimbledon run Thursday, winning 6-2 and 7-6 (5). Serena had little trouble with Zheng in the first set, but the second went to a tie break, which Serena started strong, going up 3-0 before Zheng fought back to make it 5-5. Serving the ball and down 5-6, Zheng showed a small crack in her otherwise steely composure when she double faulted into the net, handing victory to......

China Sports Today has a long story about Wimbledon's Chinese Cinderella story: If Zheng Jie's (郑洁) unlikely Wimbledon run continues, she will spend her 25th birthday playing in the singles final at the All England Club this Saturday. Her chances of getting there are slim—she would have to beat Serena Williams on Thursday. But Zheng has already made history as the first Chinese player and the first female wild card entry to reach the final......

Chinese art is where it's at, especially in our own city of Shanghai, says this video featuring interviews with curators at MOCA and Moganshan. The swelling popularity of the genre is evidenced by an impressive statistic — in 2004, Sotheby’s auctioned off $3 million in Chinese art, a number that increased to $70 million last year. Respect for the burgeoning art scene doesn’t just come from abroad, but from China’s own youth, who are becoming......

With recent reports of China suspending fireworks factories' shipments stateside, American expats in the mood to celebrate July 4 with fireworks will be glad they're in Shanghai. This and four other reasons why it's good to be in this city. Wednesday July 2: Quiet Night at Arch 2 With noise pollution even worse than last year in Shanghai, you might feel like you have to search high and low for a little peace and quiet......

Chinese tennis player Zheng Jie is making history and showing some Olympic promise with her recent play at Wimbledon. First she shocked tournament top seed, world No. 1 and the sport's newest "It girl," Ana Ivanovic in straight sets in the third round. And yesterday, Zheng dispatched Hungary's Ana Szavay to become the second Chinese woman to make it to the Wimbledon quarterfinals. Zheng won in two sets, 6-3, 6-4, showing the same calm confidence......

The exhibit is scheduled to travel to over 100 cities around the globe, with an estimated 2.5 million iewing the photographs, and it will be stopping in Shanghai from July 3 to 24 at the Songjiang Art Museum. The show features the winning works of the World Press Photo Contest, showcasing the most interesting, creative images of illustrious photojournalists from the past year. The exhibit, most recently shown in Moscow, The Netherlands, Chile and New......

Wednesday, June 25 If you haven’t been yet, check out Curry Wednesday at O’Malley’s. Nothing like stuffing your face with Indian deliciousness to get you over the hump, we always say. 2 Taojiang Lu, Changning near Hengshan Lu, 桃江路42号 近衡山路, 地铁1号线衡山路站 Thursday, June 26 128 RMB buys you a free flow of tapas and sangria at Cantine Nouveau Bistro from 7-10. Once you’re satiated, skip over to the Bund to see French hip hop master......

Folk or Punk? Tonight that is the question you should be asking yourself. Demerit, a tight group of old school punkers, are playing out at Yuyintang tonight in celebration of their new cd. While out at Live Bar French folk bands, Kandid and Zedrus, will be showing Shanghai what French folk is all about. Tomorrow the STD party people will be at Windows Underground with Underground Baby, from Beijing, and King of Retards. Live Bar......

We’ve perused the net, we’ve asked our friends and now we’ve come up with our favorite highlights for the days ahead. Wednesday, June 18th Playing hooky from work has never been this much fun! Sneak over to the Shanghai International Convention Center to experience some of the madness that is the Shanghai International Wine and Spirits Fair, where alcohol experts from across the world come to strut their stuff. It’s 9:30-5 Tuesday through Thursday, and......

Left: American Gangster trailer; Right: Across the Universe trailer The 11th Shanghai International Film Festival had a rocky start on Saturday, when the opening film, Olympic Dreamers, failed to arrive, leaving confused media stranded in the rain after an unusually brief opening ceremony. Critics from around the world have noted that the event has less energy this year, a change from a decade-long trend of increasing prestige. Chinese organizers point to the earthquake as......

A month after the tragedy in Sichuan you’d be forgiven for feeling a little compassion fatigue. Whilst the focus of the recovery process has changed from the desperate speed of the first few days, there is still a lot of work to be done repairing damage both physical and emotional. On that theme then, tonight sees an event hosted by a group of Shanghai’s creative arts and fashion crowd called Heartbeat in Putuo. The organisers......

Luis Tapia of Daedalum Films gets on the Omega China Tour and follows professional golfer Zhou Xunshu, who features prominently in the upcoming book on the development of golf in China by Shanghaiist's founding editor, Dan Washburn. Late last year, we introduced Zhou to you and told you the story of how this guy literally stumbled his way into professional golf, but hearing him tell his own story in this video really left us......

By Sue Anne Tay The screening schedule for the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival, running from June 14 to 22, is out and categorized by the cinemas that are screening the movies. You can get your tickets at the 23 cinemas participating in the Film Festival or book tickets through East Tickets 东方票务at 962388 (website). The (confirmed) prices of the tickets range from 40, 50 and 60 RMB, but the one tricky logistic is that......

As many of you may remember, Shanghaiist held a benefit for Sichuan's earthquake victims at Sasha's Bar and Restaurant almost three weeks ago. Due to the munificence of many companies and individuals, attendees had close to a 20% chance of winning a raffle prize. Unfortunately, many awards have not yet been claimed! Therefore, we have set a deadline of SUNDAY for you to collect your prizes. Please check the partial list of our generous donors......

We love this new promotional video for the Beijing Olympics, although Meg in Beijing had this to say:I really like the athletes working out at the Forbidden City’s gates. Although I think the marksmanship bit is a little creepy.......

It is not uncommon for many of the Chinese indie bands to have their actual popularity and accomplishments embellished and twisted in order to drum up hype for upcoming shows. One of the few indie bands that actually is and does have the huge local following to justify the hype is Xie Tian Xiao and Cold Blooded Animal. This grunge/acid rock band formed back in 1994 when grunge was still riding out the Nirvana......

This weekend and next there are a couple of parties of notable exception that should be on everyone’s calendar. Saturday - June 7th Get in the Van II - Windows Underground & Anar - 10pm (50rmb) Saturday, the Get in the Van boys are back for another round of boozing it up on the buses. This time around they have decided to bring down Joyside, a hard partying garage band from Beijing who will be......

By Sue Anne Tay Your eyes do not deceive you. That hairy monster you see is Wu Gaozhong's latest. The exhibition, "Spectral Memory" is currently on at Zendai Museum of Modern Art located at Thumb Plaza in Pudong. Wu is the same controversial artist who, as part of performance art, curled up naked inside the carcass of a freshly-slaughtered water buffalo. The exhibit consists of carved wooden objects, replicas of every-day objects the artist carried......

DJ J Walk from djvibe.com played an amazing set at The Shelter last night.......

The next time you are at Shanghai Centre Element Fresh, be sure to check out what's on the walls as you wait for your order to arrive. Shanghai-based Canadian artist Jeffery Robert Bleazard has donated six of his artworks to the Sichuan Earthquake Charity Art Auction organized by Element Fresh and the paintings will be on display at Shanghai Centre Element Fresh until June 8. Quite appropriately so, four out of the six paintings......

They're not coming to play together, but rather in two separate shows happening this week. Swiss trumpeter Erik Truffaz is performing Thursday (tomorrow) at JZ Club with his band, and Saturday is Mike Stern's show. Each of them are bringing a quartet, ostensibly touring to promote new albums. Mike Stern's quartet consists of Bob Franceschini, Lincoln Goines, Lionel Cordew. Erik Truffaz is bringing Marcello Giuliani, Marc Erbetta, and Patrick Muller in his band. Both of......

Video from Daedalum Films Note from the editors: Our friends, Luis Tapia and Arnaud Kamphuis from Daedalum Films (hire them for all your video needs!) have sent us this wonderful video of the Shanghaiist Earthquake Benefit at Sasha's in which you guys helped to raise the eye-popping amount of RMB228,336 (sorry we just had to repeat it!). Apart from that long list of sponsors and partners we'd like to thank for making the event......

Photo by Jakob Montrasio The turnout last night was phenomenal! The lines flowed out the door and onto the streets, the beer taps ran dry, no could hear the raffle winners’ names, and the BBQ queue was unbelievable… but, beautifully, no one seemed to care. Much to our surprise and delight, 728 people attended the Benefit BBQ and contributed 131,040 RMB. (One manager who has worked at Sasha’s for years, said she has never......

It's perfect BBQ weather! As we're sure you've all heard, tonight's the night for the Shanghaiist Benefit for Sichuan’s Earthquake Victims at Sasha's. Word travels fast in Shanghai and some people have received the benefit announcement from five different sources! The value of the raffle prizes has now topped 30,000 RMB and includes travel vouchers, hotel suites, jewelry, wine, beer, concert tickets, and much more. Click here for the complete list. Thanks to all the......

Shanghaiist has been nonstop busy for the past several days fielding emails and returning calls from companies interested in donating to the raffle at ‘The Great Shanghaiist Benefit for Earthquake Victims at Sasha's’. It’s a great reason to feel overworked. How the raffle works: Everyone who attends the BBQ for dinner will get one chance to win a prize. If you want to donate additional money to our designated charity, the Foundation for Poverty Alleviation,......

Forwarded to us from our new friends at Chengdu's English-language magazine Chengdoo (Thanks Joe and Jane!). We are posting these up because the needs are real and time-sensitive. Many have died, but the living need help too. Now. Many areas of help are needed right now, so feel free to read through each of these and make a decision for yourself which cause is closest to your heart and which organisation you'd like to support.......